The Freiburg Wolves say goodbye to the international break with a five-point weekend. After the Breisgauer team won 5-2 in Weißwasser on Friday, they managed a 4-3 overtime win against third-place Crimmitschau today.
Before today’s game, Christian Billich was honored for his 698th game in the Wolves jersey. The Freiburg homegrown player has played the most games for EHC Freiburg and replaces the previous record holder Tobias Kunz. He played 697 games in his active career. Club board member Werner Karlin and president Michael Müller presented Billich with a jersey with the number 698, and Tobias Kunz congratulated him on the record.
After the emotional tribute, some really good ice hockey was played in the Real Hero Arena. Freiburg took control from kick-off and the guests from West Saxony had to fend off numerous attacks. But the guests proved why they are currently in third place in the table. The line around top scorer Tobias Lindberg in particular repeatedly caused needle pricks and David Zabolotny in the Freiburg goal had to be wide awake to keep his box clean. Only a penalty against the guests in the 14th minute resulted in the first goal of the evening. The goalscorer was the record holder Christian Billich, who shot unmarked in front of the outstanding Oleg Shilin. The score went into the first break with the score 1-0.
In the second third, both teams created opportunities to change the score. However, Freiburg remained superior and created clear scoring opportunities through Jesse Roach, Nikolas Linsenmaier and Ludwig Nirschl. On the other hand, Zabolotny showed his skills and prevented the equalizer.
The Freiburg team also remained dominant in the final section. The Wolves confidently defended a penalty against Marcus Gretz. Wave after wave of attacks ran towards the visitors’ goal and Parker Bowles already had the 2-0 on his stick. However, Oleg Shilin prevented anything worse with a monster safety. In the 50th minute, youngster David Makuzki took courage and simply shot at the goal from the right side and the disc found its way into the net. 23 seconds later the wolves were able to celebrate again. Christian Billich had played the disc from the center to the right side to Nick Master and he passed it across the slot to the left side to Dante Hahn. He completed the brilliant move to make it 3-0.
The game seemed to be over, but the decision was postponed when Colin Schmith scored the next goal. The Ice Pirate defeated Zabolotny with a shot over his catching hand. The Freiburg keeper’s view was blocked. Just 24 seconds later the score was 3-2. Zabolotny was able to fend off the shot on goal, but then had to let the follow-up shot pass. The 3:3 equalizer just two minutes later was strange. Zabolotny was again able to deflect the shot on goal to the side, but Ladislav Zikmund was able to put the rebound back in front of the goal from an impossible angle. The disc from the Freiburg keeper’s pad crashed into the goal.
In extra time, both goalkeepers were able to prevent good opportunities. A final attack was then reserved for the wolves. Ludwig Nirschl passed the puck to Nick Master in front of the goal and the Canadian was able to maneuver the puck over Shilin’s arm into the goal with six seconds left to score the winning goal.
“I’m proud of the team’s performance,” said Freiburg coach Timo Saarikoski after the game. A short “black” phase would have prevented victory in regular time, but he sees the team on the right track. “The season is still long and we will come out of the international break even stronger,” he promised. His counterpart Jussi Tuores praised Freiburg’s game. “I’m very happy with one point today,” he admitted.
The DEL2 is now taking a break for a weekend. The Wolves will play in Landshut on November 17th, before the Kassel Huskies come to Breisgau two days later.
Tore:
1:0 14:02 Christian Billich
2:0 49:22 David Makuzki (Dante Hahn)
3:0 49:45 Dante Hahn (Nick Master, Christian Billich)
3:1 53:14 Colin Schmith (Henri Kanninen)
3:2 53:38 Vincent Saponari (Felix Thomas)
3:3 55:16 Ladislav Zikmund (Vincent Saponari, Henri Kanninen)
4:3 64:54 Nick Master (Ludwig Nirschl)
Penalty minutes Freiburg 4, Crimmitschau 4
Referees: Michael Klein, Vladislav Gossmann
Spectators: 1700
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